


The thing about brothers

by See_Kay_Write



Series: NaNo17 [1]
Category: Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys Super Mysteries - Franklin W. Dixon & Carolyn Keene
Genre: Gen, Sarcasm, missing Frank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 13:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12706320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/See_Kay_Write/pseuds/See_Kay_Write
Summary: Joe let out another relieved sigh into her ear, “Good, that’s… good.   Tell me where you are so that I can come there, make sure he’s still okay and thenstrangle him myself for this stunt.”





	The thing about brothers

Nancy pulled the pins out of her hair and brushed it out in long frustrated strokes.  She glanced at the clock, reflected in the mirror from the side table.  1:11 am. Well, she wasn’t sleeping yet, she was willing to bet that they weren’t either.  She picked up her phone and scrolled through her contacts.  She hesitated on Frank's name and moved down to Joe’s. 

 

Her silver dress crinkled as she sat on the hotel bedspread and waited while it rang.  Her heels had been kicked off at the door and she took the wait time to remove the necklace and earrings.  The party had been a bust investigatory wise, she’d netted way more questions than answers and the mystery that was Frank Hardy didn’t even top the list, unfortunately.

 

“It's 2 am, if you haven’t been kidnapped, I want no part in this conversation.”  Joe was not sounding thrilled about being woken up.

 

“I haven’t been _abducted_ in ages. What do you mean, 2, it's 1 here?  Forget to change your watch?” Nancy pulled her pajamas closer to her, along with the jeans and sweatshirt.  She was hoping to put on the former, but depending on what Joe said, she’d settle for the latter.

 

“You were _abducted_ at gunpoint two weeks ago.”  Joe sounded a little more awake now at least.

 

“Checking up on me, Hardy?”  she smiled despite herself and made sure her tablet was still charging on the opposite bedside table.  It was more portable than her laptop by far and she had a feeling she’d need it soon.

 

“You made national news.  Sort of.  They didn’t flat out say it was you, but I am a detective, I read between the lines, it was you.  What are we even talking about, why are you making me awake right now?”

 

“Blame your brother, I wasn’t sure if he’d take my call after this evening.   If he’s hiding behind you, just pass off the phone,” Nancy eyed the coffee maker on the desk.  No, that would wait until morning, the daylight version of it anyway.

 

“You saw him, tonight,” Joe said very flatly, after a low exhale, “He looked okay?”

 

“He looked better than me,” Nancy grumbled halfheartedly, trying to ignore the sudden twist of nerves in her stomach.

 

Joe let out another relieved sigh into her ear, “Good, that’s… good.   Tell me where you are so that I can come there, make sure he’s still okay and then _strangle him myself for this stunt._ ”

 

Nancy blinked.  Joe didn’t raise his voice exactly, but he did not sound pleased.  “Chicago.”

 

“Great.  Okay, I need to go wake up Jack, give Dad an update and maybe throw a shirt in a bag.  I’ll see you in… four hours.  Nancy?  Thank you.”  Joe hung up without waiting for a reply. 

 

Nancy set her phone down, then thought better of it, and plugged it into the charger.  She changed quickly into the jeans and sweatshirt and pulled her hair back into a rough pony tail before getting up and turning on the coffee maker after all.  She had four hours to do a little reconnaissance, sleep was overrated anyway.

 

Four hours later, she was hauling out to Midway at Joe’s text.   She was thankful for small favors, one being he didn’t fly in to O’hare, and two that it was 5 in the morning.  Chicago traffic often wasn’t _good_ no matter what time of day, but this was better than it could have been.

 

Joe was easy to spot, he looked decidedly rumpled but generally unchanged from the last time she’d seen him, maybe six months ago now.  He shook hands with a taller, dark haired man- no, that was Jack, Nancy reminded herself.  She’d met him once or twice over the years, but it had been a long time.  Nancy was working her way toward them as Joe turned and spotted her.  His face lit up, but she was pretty sure that it was for the coffee she was holding and not for her in particular.  

 

“Morning, Nancy,” Jack nodded to her.

 

She offered Jack the first cup, “Still take it black, no sugar?”

 

“Much appreciated,” he took it, “Joe, I’m going to go check the plane over.  Give me a call when you know what’s going on?”

 

“I will,” Joe only had eyes for the coffee.  Jack shook his head and left them to it.

 

Nancy held it back, “So…?”

 

“I’m serious about the strangling,” Joe ran a hand through his hair and adjusted his bulging backpack.  Apparently he’d found more than just a shirt to bring.

 

“I’m detecting that, yes,” Nancy said dryly.  She was detecting a hell of a lot of worry, if she was being honest.

 

“If you’re going to make puns this early, I’m heading right back on that plane,” Joe pointed out the window at the first one in sight.

 

“That plane is going to Denver,” Nancy informed him.

 

“Even better.  Do you know where he is now?” Joe asked, still eyeing the cups.

 

She shook her head, “I don’t know exactly.  I ran into him at the plaza.  How is it you don’t know?” 

 

Joe bristled a little even though she hadn’t meant it as a criticism, just stating a fact, “Because secretly, my older, supposedly wiser, brother is secretly a _moron.”_

She handed over the larger of the three remaining coffees wordlessly.  She was pretty sure this was going to be a long story. 

 

“Marry me,” Joe downed half the cup in one go.  Nancy winced sympathetically, she’d got it on the way in and there was no way that hadn’t burned going down.

 

“My car’s this way, start talking,” she lead him out the exit.

 

"My genius of a brother," Joe inhaled the other half of his coffee, "Got himself yanked onto a charter jet.  That fun fact, Dad and I found out around midnight because he couldn’t call and tell me he had a lead like a normal person and instead we spent most of yesterday retracing his movements. Despite several hours of coaxing, attempted bribing, threatening and cajoling, I wasn't able to get the destination out of anyone before I fell asleep on my desk and woke up two hours later to your phone call.  We were working on some jewelry thefts from, oddly enough, an insurance provider, I've got the file in my backpack.  He went to talk to the suspect and next time I tried to get a hold of him, he was gone, the jet was gone.  Apparently to Chicago to party?  That’s what’s not making any sense to me.  I don’t think he blew his cover yet, not if he was at the party, but I still don’t understand why he couldn’t just call himself."

 

"He looked okay at the party, aside from clearly not wanting to be there," Nancy mused.  She handed Joe a second coffee, unlocked her car and sipped at her own as she slid in, "I did some digging after you called, he might still be at the Plaza.  He was with a woman, Rene Carter.  If what she was wearing last night is part of her private collection, she’s either an amazing target for a thief or she’s very brazen about wearing stolen property.  What little I got of her sparkling personality, it could go either way until we’re able to dig in a little deeper on her.”

 

Joe shook his head, “Unless it’s an alias, that’s not who he went to see.  I won’t know until I’ve got a picture.”

 

Nancy nodded, steering into the early morning traffic.  Joe leaned back into the headrest, but didn’t close his eyes. 

 

“I’m not that bad of a driver, catch a nap, it’ll be maybe a half hour to the hotel,” Nancy suggested quietly.

 

Joe just shook his head, “I’ll be fine- I caught a little sleep on the plane.  What about you?”

 

“I was too wired to sleep after you called, I’ll crash later,” Nancy deftly slowed to avoid a taxi abruptly entering their lane, “Probably not literally.”

 

“Not reassuring, Drew,” Joe gave a half smile.  The banter was clearly wearing thin now that the worry was setting back in full force.

 

“Hey, we’ll find Frank, get everything sorted out, and wrap up at least one case,” Nancy aimed for bright and landed somewhere a little closer to manic.  The caffeine was not doing her any favors after four cups.

 

“What exactly did he say when you saw him last night?” Joe sat up a little straighter.

 

“Do you want verbatim or summary?” Nancy waved a car in and then quickly took the gap to get over to the exit.

 

“Verbatim if you can manage it,” Joe raised an eyebrow, “I don’t remember total verbal recall under your talents before.”

 

“Don’t think I couldn’t remember on my own, Hardy, but…” Nancy gestured at her phone sitting in the cup holder and rattled off the pass code, “I had my phone in my bag recording everything last night.  Should be on there, maybe… twenty minutes in.”

 

Joe was already bringing up the audio, and scrolled to around the twenty minute mark to listen.  He got through everything with Frank (admittedly short) and sighed. 

 

“I was sort of hoping he’d slipped you some information, but it doesn’t sound like it,” Joe set the phone back down and peered out the windshield as the hotel loomed into view.   She pulled around to the parking garage.   Joe shouldered his backpack while Nancy grabbed her phone and dragged her purse out of the back seat.

 

Nancy caught his eye, “Rene Carter has a suit, two floors down from the penthouse.  I’m thinking we start there after you get me caught up.”

 

They were almost across the lobby when a man in a baseball cap knocked into Joe, conveniently nudging him into the camera blind spot Nancy had been using herself two days earlier.

 

“Hey, watch-“ Joe’s protest died off suddenly and Nancy pinched the bridge of her nose.  She would never again let either of them give her any sort of hard time about dramatic timing.

 

“Good, you’re here,” Frank looked just as relieved as Joe, “I was really hoping you’d get my message.  Nancy, can we use your room?”

 

“Not without me,” Nancy retorted sharply, “I really do want to know what exactly is going on.”

 

Frank ushered them both into the elevator, “Oh don’t worry, I’ve got a story for you two.”

**Author's Note:**

> Edited for sneaky typos 12-13


End file.
